Domestic Adaptations of European Issues: A Network Analysis of the German and French Media Debates on EU Enlargement and a common Constitution.

The goal of this paper is to explore which factors trigger whether and how national media open up for communication flows dealing with European issues. So far research has highlighted factors that explain commonalities in debates between countries as a result of European competences and events. This paper makes an attempt to understand why a specific European issue is debated in a country, but disregarded in another or why issues are debated differently in different countries. Three hypotheses are developed that specify how the national level colors the domestic adaptations of a common European input. To find evidence for the impact of national levels on European debates, a network analysis is conducted for the German and French media reporting and commentating on EU enlargement and a common European Constitution. This network analytic concept of public debates allows for an actor-based and relational explanation of agenda-building processes. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]